Outdoor goods store owners, this one is for you! Have you considered walking out of the woods and into online entrepreneurial territory? Maybe you’ve successfully launched an online store, but products aren’t flying off the shelves like you expected. Well, you’re in good company. Many successful eCommerce stores admit to experiencing a slow start when launching their online business, mainly due to lacking a clear digital marketing strategy.
It’s hard to sell your products if your business can’t inspire a reason to purchase them. Luckily, there are strategies that you can employ to help keep your revenue healthy, like improving the product details or displaying customer reviews.
Are you ready to begin building a thriving eCommerce site for your outdoor goods store? Here are a few tips to help you achieve online success.
Sell a Lifestyle in Your Marketing Campaigns
Why do outdoor apparel brands like REI and Patagonia have such loyal customers and a huge social media presence? They are pros when it comes to promoting a lifestyle along with their products. Patagonia is revered worldwide because of the adventure and conservation stories they interweave in their marketing campaigns.
If you focus on creating a lifestyle, you can make your followers feel as though they are in an exclusive club. This elevates the perceived value of your business, driving more sales and adding devoted followers.
As a purveyor of outdoors gear, you’re perfectly positioned to promote your brand lifestyle through user-generated content. The best way to boost your brand is through customer reviews and social shares. For example, share your followers’ outdoor pictures on social media to promote your brand’s lifestyle and engage your fans.
Leverage Marketing Tools to Free Up Your Time
Following your passion and growing your online business is supposed to be exciting, but many don’t realize the reality that smaller business owners often face. Of course, launching your own business has its rewards! But you could find yourself spending too much time doing mundane tasks, like managing cash flow and keeping tabs of product inventory, without the proper tools.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this problem. With Springbot’s all-in-one marketing automation platform, you can streamline your marketing efforts and get personalized, data-driven recommendations to help you scale your business.
Make Mobile a Priority
Regardless of industry, failing to have a mobile-friendly site is going to stunt your sales. If you think about it, you are marketing to people who enjoy being outside. These adventure-seekers are probably less inclined to spend hours in front of their desktop searching for products.
Instead, they will be quickly browsing their smartphones in search of the latest outdoor gear. To cater to your target market, make sure your online store brand can capture your audience’s attention on mobile and give them a seamless mobile experience. Understand that mobile displays are different than the view on a desktop and design accordingly. According to one statistic, mobile views for email campaigns ranged from 20 percent to 75 percent, depending on the target audience.
Use Facebook Live to Share Experiences with Your Fans
Facebook Live is less than two years old, but it should be in your marketing arsenal. There are multiple benefits to this useful feature, one of which is that it allows you to share experiences with your followers. Outdoor apparel brands can feature customer reviews and videos from their adventures that spotlight their favorite products. Your audience will respond to how well your products stand up to their adventures.
Many eCommerce brands are understandably nervous about using live video streaming. Anything can happen—but that is precisely the point. Going live gives your followers a raw view into your business and drives engagement on Facebook.
Take a pair of water shoes along a kayaking trip or climb a mountain in rugged hiking boots, and use Facebook Live to promote your product as an essential component to the adventure. You can even partner with brands in different niches that share your target market for increased engagement and visibility.
Deliver a Seamless Shopping Experience
Whether your customers are engaging with your outdoor goods store on mobile device or desktop, your brand should deliver a consistent online shopping experience. Referred to as omnichannel marketing, this is an effective way for both large and small brands to engage their customers.
Why is omnichannel marketing so important for your outdoor goods store brand? Consider the rate at which our technology is improving. Consumers have become accustomed to personalized marketing and have now come to expect it as part of the shopping experience for their favorite outdoor brands.
To put it simply, an omnichannel experience has become essential to provide an excellent customer experience. The easier you make the path to purchase, the more sales you will drive to your online store. By providing a smooth online shopping experience, your customers are bound to recommend your eCommerce store to others, which adds more fans to your brand.
Final Words
Launching an eCommerce site is easy. To turn it into a thriving business, you should identify what really makes your business unique from the competition. Instead of products, focus more on selling a lifestyle that encourages social interaction and collaboration. To meet the needs of your busy audience, provide a seamless brand experience across all platforms that inspire buyer confidence and create conversions. If you want to turn your outdoor goods store into a thriving online business, don’t forget to leverage the tools and technology that are at your disposal.
No more missing out on valuable marketing opportunities or wasting your budget on channels that aren’t profitable for your outdoor goods store. If you’re ready to harness your data to drive more sales, schedule a demo with Springbot to see how it works!
